The Twelve Days of Christmas
by Sakura Naoko
Summary: Vash and Meryl meet at an anual Christmas party, and Vash, a rich millionaire family lawyer falls head over heels in love with Meryl, an insurance claim worker. However, Meryl thinks Vash isn't for her, so Vash is determined to win her heart!
1. Default Chapter

Naoko: Yo, yo!

Sakura: We are writing another story!

Naoko: What does this make the count... 8?

Sakura: We are literary geniouses!

Naoko: coughs and thinks of authors who have written more than that

Sakura: Anyways, this is our first Trigun romance story!

Naoko: Not really....

Sakura: . 

Kuri-chan: If you believe they own it, I have a bridge to sell you!

P.S.!! This world is not set in Gunsmoke, even though the currency is double dollars!!

Meryl walked into the apartment she shared with her colleague, Mille. "I'm exhausted," she said and leaned against the door as soon as it was closed.

"Aren't you excited?" Mille's voice floated out from another room.

"About what?" Meryl asked.

"About the Christmas party!" Mille stepped out of the bathroom, wearing a long, form fitting buttercup yellow dress. "It's today!"

"The holiday is two weeks away! I don't see why this 'Mr. Stampede' must hold one this early..."

"It is so that everyone that leaves town for the holidays can still attend the party," Millie answered.

Meryl slid onto the floor. "Do I have to go?"

"I would like you to," Millie said.

Meryl looked out of the window. It was snowing and very cold, and Meryl had been looking forward to curling up on her bed with some hot chocolate and brownies and escaping the dreariness of life, work, and maybe taking a hot bath. "Alright," she said. "I'll go." She got up slowly.

"Don't be so glum!" Mille said. "You still have the time to take a hot shower!"

Meryl nodded and walked into her room. "What should I wear?" she murmured. She walked over to her closet and opened it. "I guess this will do.' She said and pulled out the first nice dress she could see. It was a royal blue dress that ended at mid thigh. She pulled out nylons and her favorite three-inch pumps and walked into the bathroom. When she was done showering and dressing she let Millie do her hair.

"I think we are ready to go," Meryl said after Millie was done doing her hair. She examined herself in the mirror. Millie handed her a black leather trenchcoat as they walked out of the bathroom and put her own tan one on. "I called a taxi," she said. "It's here now."

Meryl nodded.

"Cheer up, sempai!" Millie said. "There will be lots of food there, and all of our friends said they were coming."

"So will Hornfreak..." Meryl grimaced. She had gone out with him for about a month. He was a bastard, so she had broken up with him, but he still bothered her about it. She pushed him out of her mind, however, and grinned. "Hey, I'll bet Nick Wolfwood will be there!"

Millie blushed. The two had met when she had bought what some people would consider a life time's supply of pudding and couldn't carry it all to her car. Wolfwood had noticed her when she was tottering out of the supermarket, burdened with at least ten shopping bags, and rushed to her rescue.

"Yeah," Millie said. "He told me he was friends with Vash Stampede."

"Let's hope that he isn't a womanizer too, then" Meryl said crisply. "He probably held this party to find a new girlfriend and someone he can cheat on her with."

"Well, then, you had better hope neither of them are you!" Millie said cheerfully.

Meryl suddenly wished she had worn a longer dress.

The two got into the taxi and sat in silence the entire way to Mr. Stampede's house. It was only six blocks away, Meryl noticed. She was surprised, but, then again, she never had known where Mr. Stampede lived. Upon arrving, they noticed, first of all, that the house was closer to a mansion. Secondly, it was lavishly decorated with lights and wreaths.

"I'm not sure I want to go in there, Millie," Meryl said wearily.

"It's ok, Sempai," Millie replied and patted her on the back. She reached out and rang the doorbell.

The two women waited patiently, but noone answered. Millie rang the doorbell again and still, noone answered. Meryl rolled her eyes and knocked on the door. It slid open and the two women stuck their heads in.

"Hello?" Meryl called out.

"Come in!" A voice called from another room.

Meryl and Millie entered and hung their coats on a coat rack by the door. They could hear music and chatter, which grew louder once they walked along the almost empty hall and turned the corner.

People were standing everywhere, chatting animatedly and snacking on finger foods. A blonde-haired man and a black-haired man were sitting on a couch at the other end of the room, talking quietly. Meryl tugged on the edge of her skirt as a wave of self-consciousness passed over her.

"Ah!" The black-haired man stood up. "There is the queen of pudding!"

Millie, who had been looking around the room, turned to him. "Mr. Wolfwood! Hello!"

Mr. Wolfwood grinned at her. "Just call me Wolfwood," he said.

Mr. Stampede appeared behind Wolfwood. "So, this is the lady I hear so much about!"

Meryl noticed with distaste that he was very handsome.

"May I ask who this is?" Mr. Stampede said, indicating Meryl.

"Meryl Stryfe," Millie said. "My coworker and best friend."

"Wonderful to meet you," Wolfwood said.

Meryl smiled in reply.

Wolfwood and Millie began to talk about food.

Mr. Stampede sided over to Meryl. "Hello, may I call you Meryl?" he asked.

Meryl winced inwardly and nodded to him. "Can I call you Vash?" she asked.

He nodded. "Of course!" He smiled brightly. "So, what do you do for a living?"

"I work for an insurance agency," Meryl told him.

"How fun!" Vash said brightly.

"Not really..." Meryl said. "It's hard work and a lot of extra hours. What do you do?"

"I search for the mayfly of peace and love," Vash said dreamily.

Meryl stared at him. "So, you don't work?"

Vash looked put-out. "No, I'm a lawyer. A family lawyer."

"Oh," Meryl responded. She did not say anything else.

"You don't like lawyers?" Vash asked.

"It's not that," Meryl said. "It's just that there was nothing else to say."

"It was nice talking to you," Vash said, "But I must go and talk to some of the other guests." Vash's eyes were already traveling over to a beautiful young woman, who Meryl recognized as the girl who lived across the hall. Her name was Elizabeth. Meryl snorted in disgust as Vash floated over to her.

Meryl sighed and looked around the room. She discovered the buffet table and walked over to get some punch.

"You look lovely tonight," a voice murmured in her ear.

Meryl jumped. "Go away, Hornfreak," she said.

Midvalley Hornfreak came into view. He was wearing a dark purple suit with a yellow tie. "Why should I?" he asked.

"Because I don't want you to be anywhere near me," Meryl responded and picked up her cup.

"That's no fun," Hornfreak put his hand on her shoulder.

"Midvalley......." Meryl cautioned through clenched teeth.

Hornfreak's hand slowly traveled down towards her chest.

Meryl stepped out from under his hand, socked him in the mouth, and poured her punch over his shirt. "So long, Hornfreak," she said and walked away. She went halfway across the room before she realized that she was shaking and that a large amount of people were staring at her.

"Sempai?" Millie hurried over. "Is everything ok?"

Meryl nodded. "Yeah," she said and smiled.

"Do you want to leave?" Millie sounded worried.

"No, I can tell you are having fun. I'll just have you protect me," Meryl gave her a wry smile. Suddenly, she was glad that her mother had forced her to take martial arts as a child.

Millie brought Meryl over to Wolfwood and Vash, who had joined the two.

"Ya alright?" Wolfwood asked.

Meryl nodded briskly.

Millie launched into an explanation of the situation to Wolfwood and Vash.

"Wow," Vash said and winked at her. "You should go out with me and see how a real man treats his girlfriend."

Meryl's eye twitched.

"I don't think she likes that idea," Wolfwood said.

Millie, Wolfwood, and Vash burst out laughing. Meryl joined in after a bit.

The rest of the evening was rather enjoyable. Wolfwood and Vash stayed with them the whole time, and Meryl could not deide whether or not it was because of the incident with Hornfreak earilier, or, if they actually wanted to. The more time Meryl spent with Vash, she began to understand why some women were crazy about him. However, most of his act did not impress her. He was too....... Stupid.

It was three o'clock in the morning before people started to clear out. Meryl had been ready to leave several hours earlier, but she could tell Millie was having fun so she stayed and was on her best behavior.

Meryl was sitting in an easy chair, listening to Millie and Wolfwood laugh over some trivial issue. She had stopped listening a while ago and was trying not to fall asleep from exhaustion.

"Can I talk to you for a bit?" Vash appeared behind her.

Meryl started and almost fell out of her chair. "Sure," she said.

Vash's eyes laughed at her. "You are a bit jumpy, aren't you?"

"You have to be when you are my size," Meryl returned.

Vash pulled her aside. "That guy isn't giving you any serious trouble, is he?" he asked.

Meryl shook her head. "Nothing I can't handle," she said.

"Well, if he does, call me, alright? I know some people who can take care of him."

Meryl highly doubted it would escalate into anything else, but she agreed.

"You know, I was serious ealier," Vash told her.

Meryl looked up at him, confused. "About what?"

"Going out."

Meryl shook her head. "No."

"Are you sure?" Vash looked hurt.

Meryl patted him on the arm gently. "I'm not your kind of girl," she said.

"Meryl!" Millie said from the couch. "We need to go home! We will be late for work tomorrow! Or today..." she giggled.

Meryl gave Vash an apologetic smile, then turned to her friend. "We don't have to go to work tomorrow. Boss gave us time off until after Christmas because of how well we did out last job."

Some weirdo named Legato Bluesummers was involved in a very strange case. It had started out with damaged property, which resulted in Millie and Meryl investigatin the case. However, it had escalated into fraud, smuggling, and a large amount of dead people. Millie and Meryl had also fattened their bank account quite a bit by the end of it all.

"Oh yeah!" Millie giggled again. "Well, we need to go home anyways."

Meryl nodded.

Millie said goodbye to Wolfwood, who stood up to walk Millie to the door. To Meryl's discomfort, Vash insisted in walking her to the door also.

"Keep my offer in mind," was Vash's goodbye to her, and the party was finally over.

"Ohhh, that was so much fun!" Millie said, holding onto Meryl while she signaled a taxi.

"What did Mr. Vash mean by that?" Millie asked her on the way home.

"Nothing," Meryl said.

Millie did not press the matter.

Naoko: WOO HOO! First chapter is done!

Sakura: Yay!

Naoko: Poor little Vashy-poo

Kuri-chan: Poor me.

Sakura: You know what? I'm in the mood for roasted cat tonight!

Kuri-chan: =O.O=


	2. The First Day

Naoko: Wowie! The second chapter!

Kuri-chan: It's not like you haven't written any stories before.

Sakura: KURI-CHAN! OVER THERE! **points to the left**

Kuri-chan: Huh?

Sakura: **hits the cat with a mallet**

Naoko: . We don't own it!

"Good morning Sempai!" Millie trilled as Meryl walked out of her bedroom in a bathrobe.

"Mmmm" Meryl responded. She walked over to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup.

"Wow, you're up late," Millie observed brightly," and looked at the clock.

Meryl obliged to answer. "I was exhausted last night," she said. "Haven't gotten a good night's sleep since that last case."

"I understand," Millie said. "It's nice that we get a vacation! I wonder what I am going to do..."

"I'm planning on catching up on my reading," Meryl said as she grabbed some cereal and poured herself a bowl.

"I should probably write to my family," Millie said.

Meryl smiled at her. "Year, you should do it now that you have a couple of weeks off."

The two sat in silence as Meryl ate her cereal and Millie contemplated on the contents of her letter.

After Meryl was finished, she washed up her dishes and went to get the morning newspaper, which was delivered to their front door. To her surprise, in addition to the newspaper was a small golden Christmas tree with tiny little ornaments.

"What's this?" Meryl asked out loud, picking up the item gingerly and examining it with suspicion.

Millie popped up behind her. "It looks like one of those little trees you give out to your friends," she said.

Meryl peered closer at the tree and discovered that the ornaments were actually marzipan pears, coated in sugar. Near the bottom branches was a marzipan bird.

"Wow! It's beautiful!" Millie said. "It must have cost a fortune! Marzipan is expensive!"

"Yeah," Meryl said. She wondered if it was a little present from Legato and co. She looked at the doormat and saw a white envelope. She picked it up and opened it and took out a card with the picture of a tree and a bird on it. Inside the card was inscribed "On the first day of Christmas / my true love gave to me / A partridge in a pear tree." At the bottom, in different handwriting, was "I like you for how you are, not for how you look." Meryl sighed. She hoped fervently that it was not from Vash Stampede, but she knew better.

"Sempai, who is it from?" Millie asked as Meryl closed the door and brought the gift in.

"Vash Stampede," Meryl replied, set the tree on the dining room table, and sat down to look at it more closely. In addition to the bird and the pears was an inscription that read "To Meryl, I promise to protect you always."

Meryl sighed heavily. "I don't have time for Mr. Playboy to come into my life. Not that I want him in it anyways," Meryl said.

Millie smiled, amused.

"But you and Wolfwood on the other hand..." Meryl said and winked at Millie.

Millie smiled back. "He's a good friend."

Meryl turned her head to hide a smile.

Millie went back into the kitchen. "I want to go Christmas shopping today," her voice floated out. She came back in with a cup of coffee.

Meryl nodded. "I need to go, also." She gave a small smile. "I need some more clothes, also."

"You should wait until after Christmas to go clothes shopping," Millie said. "You might get some as a present!"

"Ha," Millie said. "Practically everyone gives me books."

Millie just smiled at her and went into the bathroom to shower.

Meryl sat down in a big, comfy chair and pulled the red comforter that was sitting on the nearby couch over her and stared at the little golden tree. 'What was he playing at?' she wondered. She lapsed into a stupor, wondering idly what marzipan actually tasted like. It was too expensive for insurance agents. Meryl hoped, however, that the two of them would be better off after this case. Her mind then wandered to what sort of gifts she should buy for whom until she was broken out of her reverie by Millie.

"I'm done, Sempai," she said. She followed Meryl's still absent gaze to the tiny tree. "It's pretty, isn't it?"

Meryl nodded. "Yes, it is."

"We should have some of the marzipan tonight with dinner."

Meryl nodded again and got up. "Are we going to go shopping together?"

"What would be the point of Christmas shopping if you didn't go alone?" Millie asked. "I'll see you later!" She grabbed her tan trench coat, keys, and waved as she opened the door.

Meryl marched into her room tiredly and opened her closed. She chose a pair of deep blue pants and a black Chinese shirt. She then stopped by her dresser and grabbed underwear and a bra and headed to the shower.

After she was done and heading to get her coat, she paused to look at the tree. On an impulse, she took one of the pears and popped it into her mouth. It was sweet and soft, with an almost smooth texture and an almond taste to it. 'Not too bad,' she thought as she grabbed her black pea coat, white scarf, and slipped on some black, knee-high boots.

She paused to examine herself in the mirror by the doorway before she left, then grabbed her black leather purse on an end table beneath the mirror. She checked her walled in the elevator - $$ 500. She briefly wondered why she was insane enough to carry that amount around and fingered the small derringer that she always kept in her coat pocket. The elevator reached the ground floor and Meryl stepped out and walked out of the apartment complex.

A thick blanket of snow covered everything, and a few people were out. Meryl guessed that most were at work. She paused for a second, considering where to go first, then decided for the toy store. She would get a chess set that her younger sister so desperately wanted. Her family was not very well off, and she knew that her sister would love it. She started walking, listening to the snow crunch under her high-heeled boots. After a fifteen-minute walk, she arrived at the toy store and gladly stepped into its cheerful warmness. There were only a few other people there, a harassed looking mother with two twin boys, who were fighting over a model airplane. The only other customer was a man examining a wooden rockinghorse. He looked up, and to Meryl's discomfort, it was Vash Stampede.

"Hello!" he said. He appeared to be as surprised as Meryl was.

"Hi," Meryl said cautiously.

"Fancy meeting you here," Vash said and picked up the toy horse.

"Yes... well, I'm picking something up for my baby sister, Meryl said.

"Ah. I have a five-year old nephew who has quite the passion for horses," Vash said. "I'm getting him a cowboy outfit, complete with a rocking horse."

Meryl smiled. "Anita wants a chess set." She said.

"Ah, I think I saw some nice ones in the back there," he said and pointed to the back of the shop.

Meryl nodded and smiled at him, hoping that he would leave her alone, but he followed her to the back.

There was a small, glass-paned counter that had several chess sets on display. She kneeled down to examine them. There were about seven in all, ranging from a simple set with chess pieces that differed from each other only by size and color, to a magnificent stone chess board and intricately carved rose and crystal quartz pieces. Meryl stared at the stone pieces; each piece had a different face and expression. However, what really caught her eye was a wooden chess set. It was beautiful: the board itself was different shades of cherry wood, and the pieces were simple but beautifully carved. Meryl smiled; she knew that her sister would love it. She looked at the price, and her stomach dropped when she read it: $$299. It was pricey, but she decided to get it anyways.

Meryl stood up and looked around for a cashier to pay for it. To her dismay, she and Vash were the only ones in the back of the store.

Vash smiled down at her. "Did you choose one?"

Meryl stared at Vash before replying. "Yes, the wooden one." She stepped away and headed out to the front of the store.

Vash followed her.

'I should probably thank him for that tree... but, if I do, he might send me some more,' Meryl thought.

As the woman with the twin boys was leaving, Meryl finally found a cashier.

"Excuse me," she said and tapped the man on the shoulder.

"Good morning, how may I help you?" the man asked as he turned to look at her.

"I'd like to buy one of your chess sets," Meryl replied.

The man walked to the back of the store. "All right," he said. He walked behind the counter.

Meryl followed him, and to her annoyance, Vash followed her. 'This is getting on my nerves,' she thought. After she paid for the set, the cashier went to the back to wrap it.

Meryl turned to Vash. "Have a lot of shopping to do?" she asked. She was trying to be polite, though she wished that he would get the hint and leave.

"Not really, actually. I don't have many family members to send gifts to," he replied. "What about you?"

"Hm..." Meryl said. "There's my mother, my father, my baby sister, my brother, my sister-in-law, Millie, my niece and nephew, and my only living aunt."

"Wow, that's quite the list," Vash replied.

Meryl blinked and looked away. 'Why did I just tell him that?' she asked herself.

The cashier returned and handed the neatly wrapped box to Meryl.

She thanked him and said her goodbye to Vash, who had yet to pay for the rocking horse.

She walked out of the shop and continued down the street, looking at all the small shops. After a few minutes, it began to snow lightly, and on a whim, Meryl stuck her arms out and looked up into the sky, her mouth open to catch some snowflakes.

After standing there for a few minutes, she continued on her way with a renewed spirit. She stepped into a music store and began filling through the CDs, looking for ones her niece and nephew might like.

After flipping through the popular music section for ten minutes, Meryl headed to the cash register, two CDs in hand. She sighed as the cashier rang them up. She was never sure about what type of music her niece and nephew really enjoyed because their tastes always changed, depending on what their mother liked at the time. Meryl smiled slightly. Both of her brother's children were so fond of their mother. As she took the plastic bag handed to her, she mused that she could always send the receipt with the gifts so that they could return the CDs if they did not like the music choice. Meryl grinned as she left the shop. Money was also a good remedy.

Meryl checked her mental list as she stood on the sidewalk. She still had to get something for her brother, his wife, her aunt, Millie, and her parents. Meryl knew her mother loved anything green and growing, so she headed off downtown to a nursery to look for an interesting plant.

The path to the nursery went by her apartment, so Meryl decided to stop off there and drop off her bags and check for wrapping paper. She walked slowly, enjoying the sight of people hurrying around, going to meetings, luncheons, and Christmas shopping. When she arrived at the apartment complex, she ran into Millie.

"Oh, I'm sorry Sempai!" Millie said and covered her eyes. "I shouldn't be seeing this!"

Meryl chuckled. "Relax, Millie, nothing in here is for you."

"You might be saying that so I am not suspicious so I can think it's not for me but it really is, and then I won't be surprised on Christmas!" Millie responded.

"Suit yourself," Meryl said. "I'll hide these so you don't have to worry."

"Alright," Millie said and peeked out from between her fingers. "We ran out of wrapping paper, so I was going to go out and get some more."

Meryl nodded. "Right. What time are you going to come back?"

"Oh... late," Millie said. "I have to take something to the post office and then continue my shopping. I only got one thing."

Meryl gave a small laugh. "Alright. I can drop that thing at the post office for you, to save you some time."

"Oh, that's alright," Millie said quickly. "I don't mind."

"Alright..." Meryl said. "I'll see you later.

"Right," Millie said brightly.

The two parted ways and Meryl went up to the apartment and entered. "I wonder what Millie is trying to send..." Meryl said. She looked at her bags and rolled her eyes. "I guess I'd better hide these things."

She walked to her room and slid the bags under carefully as to not damage the chessboard or break the jewel cases of the CDs.

After she left the apartment building she slowly wandered down the street. "What should I get Millie this year?" she asked herself quietly. She did not pay attention to where she was going and bumped into someone walking out of a store.

"I'm sorry," Meryl said quickly and looked up to see whom she had run into. Her eyes widened.

"Oh, hello again," Vash said and smiled.

"Hi," Meryl said and looked around for a possible escape route.

"Are you alright, Meryl?" Vash asked.

"Yes, but I have to get going," she replied.

"Alright. Good luck with your shopping!" Vash said and walked away with a wave.

Trying not to feel bad about the way she was treating him, Meryl let out a long sigh and started walking again. 'At least he didn't try to escort me to the next shop,' she thought. 'I would have killed him if he did...' she laughed, amused by her own thoughts. She then groaned. 'I'm acting like a schoolgirl,' she thought. 'Oh well. If I don't ever acknowledge that I received his gifts, he will leave me alone eventually.'

As if to accentuate her thoughts, Meryl started to pay attention to the shops she passed. When she approached a stationary shop, she paused. Millie absolutely loved writing letters to her family, and a nice stationary set would be a wonderful present. Meryl entered the shop and looked around. It was the first time she had ever been in one, and everything was slightly fascinating. There were shelves of different types of paper in varying sizes. Most types had matching envelopes. Meryl gave a faint smile. None of these would work; not even for one letter. There weren't enough sheets in one set.

Meryl walked to the desk in the middle of the shop, where a wizened old lady was typing meticulously at a typewriter. "Excuse me," she said.

The old lady looked up and gave a wrinkled smile. "Can I help you dear?" she asked.

Meryl nodded. "I'd like to know if I can get some custom made stationary?"

The old lady blinked. "Of course," she said. "There are some books in the back with different sized paper, styles, and decorations." She pointed in the direction of the station. "Pick out what you want and write down the code on the pad of paper back there, and bring it up here. I can make it up for you as soon as you are ready."

Meryl nodded and smiled faintly and walked to the station. It was a large desk, neatly organized. On the right was a large book with different images, the left several examples of paper size, and in the center, a book on what type of colored paper she could choose. After about a half an hour, she had put together what she wanted. She chose the largest paper size; fifteen by eleven inches. The color was to be coffee colored, with little pictures of food around the edges; pudding, apples, bananas, muffins, cookies, and cakes. After thinking for a while longer, she put the quantity she wanted on the paper: 1500 sheets. She checked the "no" box for envelopes, knowing the manila envelopes would be cheaper.

Meryl tore her piece of paper off the notepad and walked to the front and handed it to the woman.

"Oh, my," was all she said before she walked to the back.

Meryl smiled as she watched the woman's retreating back. Knowing it would take a while, she walked over to the pen station to choose one to complete her gift. After looking at al the various types, ranging from elaborate feather quills to simple wooden pencils, she chose a fountain pen. It was simple and had only a black cartridge, but she knew that Millie would like it more than a large, purple ostrich feather quill. She went back to the counter, but the old woman was not back yet, so she set the pen on the surface and went to look at some of the stationary.

A little while later, Meryl's stomach rumbled. She pulled out her watch and looked at it. To her surprise, she realized it was 2:30. "Wow," she said to herself. "I lost track of time." She looked back to the counter and saw the old lady returning, so she walked over.

"Are you getting this too, dear?" the lady asked and picked up the pen.

Meryl nodded.

The lady put a large box on the counter and placed the pen on top of it and typed into the cash register. "You know, you aren't the only one this week with odd stationary orders. Early this morning, a nice young man came in and ordered twelve different cards, each with a different lyric to that Christmas song... what is it called again?"

Meryl was struck first with amazement, then humor, then dismay. So, he was going to send more gifts to her. "The twelve days of Christmas?" she volunteered.

"Oh, yes, that's it," the old lady wrinkled her face in thought, then put the pen in a small golden box. "He said it was to court a lady. It sounds like a wonderful present to me. $$ 75 dollars, if you please."

"Yes..." Meryl said. She handed over the money and contemplated Vash and his presents. She might think that too if it was not Vash that was sending the presents, and the lady was not her.

The lady slipped the two boxes into a large plastic bag. "Have a wonderful day, dear," she said.

Meryl stepped out of the shop and looked at the sky. It had gotten noticeably darker and the amount of snow dropping from the sky was increasing. She smiled and watched the flakes fall from the sky; an almost hypnotic sight. Tonight was going to be a wonderful chance to curl up in her bed with something to read and something to snack on. Popcorn sounded good. She could even forget Vash and his silly gifts that night. Meryl started to walk to her apartment with a sigh. She didn't know why that man bothered her so much.

Meryl arrived at her apartment with no mishaps. Millie was not back yet, so Meryl pushed the newest edition to her collection under the bed and pulled off her shoes and coat. After stretching for a minute or two, she walked into the kitchen and opened the snack cupboard. After pushing her way through a mound of pudding cups, she pulled out a bag of microwavable popcorn and heated it up. She then poured the buttery popcorn into a large plastic bowl and carried it to her room. After positioning herself comfortably on her bed, she picked up her copy of Guilty Pleasures # and started to read.

After about an hour, Meryl fell asleep.

When Millie came home, she found Meryl curled around a half-empty bowl of popcorn and a book next to her.

"Oh, Sempai," she said quietly and put the book on the nightstand next to her bed and took the bowl away. "You're lonely and you don't even know it."

# It's not what it seems, really. It's an awesome vampire book by Laurel K. Hamilton. And, the book is named after a strip club. But, that's not where it's based. A vampire owns it. A really, really awesome vampire. He's named Jean-Claude.

Naoko: ; . ; Poor Meryl!

Sakura: She should marry Vash!

Naoko: I should marry Legato!

Sakura: ..............

Naoko: Heee....


End file.
